Fuck.
That was the last thing I needed to be thinking about.
“Okay.” Attes reached under his left arm and gripped the hilt of his dagger. “I’m just using this to pierce the vial.”
I could tell Kieran had questions as Attes unsheathed a dull-white blade. His eyes met mine. We both recognized it. It was the same kind the Revenant had used and what Callum had cursed Kieran with.
“What kind of dagger is that?” Kieran asked.
“Ancient bone,” Attes answered. “It’s the only thing that will pierce basalt. Not even shadowstone will do it.”
“Ancient bone?” Kieran repeated.
“It’s exactly what you think. Bones of the very first gods to walk this realm.”
“The original Primals?” Kieran surmised.
“No. These are the ones who created the first Primals and all you see.” Attes looked between us as we processed the newest piece of history no one fucking knew about. “It’s deadly to godsand mortals and can even do damage to a Primal.” He inhaled deeply. “A lotof damage in the wrong hands.”
My jaw clenched as I glanced down at Poppy’s face. “How would a Revenant get ahold of something like that?”
Attes frowned. “They shouldn’t. Why?”
“Not important right now.” I stiffened. “Her eyes stopped moving behind her lids.”
The Primal muttered a curse. “I’m going to need one of you to use the dagger to pierce the vial.”
“I’ll do it.” Kieran reached for the blade.
“Careful.” Attes handed it to him hilt first. “The bone will burn right through your skin.”
We knew that much.
“Noted,” Kieran murmured.
Attes’s inhale filled the cell. My gaze left Poppy’s as his grip on the vial firmed. His eyes met mine, and then he lifted his hand.
My arm snapped out as fast as a pit viper striking. I caught his wrist with my four-fingered hand. Our gazes locked as Kieran reached under our arms and lowered the top of her gown.
“I don’t need to look,” Attes said quietly. “Just guide my hand in the general direction.”
“Ready,” Kieran announced.
Attes’s gaze didn’t leave mine as I lowered his hand, not allowing myself to think about what I was doing—what I was allowing. I couldn’t.
When our hands neared Poppy, I looked down at the mark of Death. Fuck if it didn’t look like it pulsed.
Keeping the image of Poppy’s smile in my mind, I placed Attes’s hand on the mark. His flesh connected with hers for a second, and I felt a charge of energy flow from Poppy into Attes. I withdrew my hand, my gaze flying to hers. The short, shallow breaths ceased—
Poppy’s eyes snapped open, the blotches of color barely visible beneath the thick, swirling strands of crimson and shadow.
The sight of it shocked the three of us.
Her head tilted toward Attes, her pale lips curving into a smile. “You.”
Attes’s nostrils flared. “Do—”
Poppy moved faster than I thought possible.
